


"Fallen Gravity"

by JamyCatalyst (OutcastPack)



Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: Come on guys give me a chance?, Cults, Demons, Gen, It's not that bad of a story?, OC insert, supernatural stuff
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-05-05
Updated: 2015-09-05
Packaged: 2018-03-29 02:40:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 18,190
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3879034
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OutcastPack/pseuds/JamyCatalyst
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Welcome to the Mystery Shack! Where mysteries live and money stays!” Stan shouts with a smile, trying to be friendly. I’ve never been fond of people that remind me of used cars salesmen, but I knew after watching two seasons of Gravity Falls that he was a good guy, just one with lots of secrets; secrets that I knew….some of. </p>
<p>“Ummm…yeah.” I rub the back of my neck nervously as I step up to him. Being a bit closer I look everywhere but at him. “You think I could get a job here?”</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Falling Into the Falls

 

 

_An AU idea, with added OC inserts. Eden is a character I created for a script I’m writing, I thought this might allow me to think about her personality a bit more. Her appearance alters a few things, plus later human!Bill, as well as mentions of Monster Falls, and Reverse!Pines (not sure how yet, but it will happen!) but that’s explained as well. A lot of ideas I got from listening to a Podcast episode called[“The Gravity Falls Gossiper” ](http://www.adamwarrock.com/GFGStanSE.mp3)and the [AMA ](http://www.reddit.com/r/gravityfalls/comments/315yoy/im_bill_cipher_i_know_lots_of_things_ask_me/)where Alex pretended to be Bill as he answered questions. _

 

_This was also written to help cheer me up; I’ve been so busy with a hundred different things lately. There are[fanfic stories](https://www.fanfiction.net/~projectx) I should get back to, I know. But I’ve been trying to work on real stories and voice acting, sorry. However, if anybody’s interested in that. On my [youtube channel](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXaPxfdN6DfrmqPYtN4XEAQ), which is a gaming channel, I have a playlist where you can find my VA work. You can also ask about my original work if you’re interested. _

_Alright, enough about me, on with the show!_

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

** “Fallen Gravity” **

**Chapter 1:** _Falling Into the Falls_

The streets of the city are always full of people. Well, the streets in particular are full of cars if you want me to be real specific about it. But the sidewalks, the alleys, the shops, full of people. It’s cold as balls outside and people are still risking their necks, traveling to and fro because it’s the _‘holiday season’._ Not like I care, more business in town means more money circulation. Means I can keep doing my stupid meaningless job day in and day out and I can keep getting paid. But seriously, this time of the year is the worst, and honestly I’d rather be anywhere else.

“Eden!”

I flinch when my manager yells my name. Richard the Dick, a punny nickname if I ever heard one. Not like I care, he pays I stays.

“Lock up!”

The frat boy with bleach blond hair throws me the keys for the shop. Really, it’s a family run restaurant, I cook, someone cleans, ect. He’s the owner’s son, so he does pretty much…..nothing. But whatever, he pays I stays, right?

I catch the keys easily; cradling them in my hands I feel the cold metal on my skin. Dick was already outside, in his nice expensive warm car. Outside it’s snowing like crazy, but Dick has chains on his tires so he’s set. I however, had been staring out my one window for the last hour. Barely anyone had shown up today, not surprising. Who would want to come into a restaurant with no working heaters in this weather anyway?

With one last sigh I take off my apron and set it aside. Keys in my dark jean’s pockets, I head to the bathroom. The bathroom in the employee lounge was where I left my thick leather jacket. Inside the tiny bathroom I accidently catch my reflection in the mirrors. Something I try to avoid from doing on a daily basis. Bags under my dark blue eyes, natural black hair under the dyed green hair, a choker with angel wings dangling on my neck, bruises on my hands, and then there’s my jacket: Hanging just behind me in my reflection.

I grab my jacket and put it on, locking the bathroom behind me. After that I head out, turning off everything and locking the big double doors behind me. Outside is below freezing, snow still falling like crazy. Quickly, I put my hands in my jacket pockets and start trudging home.

I live in an apartment building a few blocks away, it’s a fifteen to thirty minute walk, but in this snow it takes twice that long. Grumbling, holding on to my anger so that it’ll keep me warm, I make my way home. Sure, I’m twenty, I could have a car, I could have a better job; I could have a lot of things. But after being an orphan almost all my life, with no guiding hand, having as much as I do, well I’m thankful for it really. Little to no money, yet I have a home of my own and a steady job. It could be worse?

I live on the second floor of the old apartment building, and the stairs up are treacherous. But I know how to safely navigate them by now. Jumping up a couple of steps I find myself in front of my door. Two zero eight, that’s me! I take my keys out of my brown leather jacket and unlock the door. As I walk in I turn on the lights, and now I can see everything.

The living room slash dining room is the first room you walk into. There’s my TV, flat screen that I got on ‘rollback’, sits on an entertainment system covered by different gaming consoles. The walls are covered in either video game posters, cartoon posters, or story art. It’s been a while since I’ve written or drawn anything; I pretty much lost all motivation for the arts three years ago.

My life can be seen by the outside as something pretty sad, but I have things that make me feel better. Like tonight, I’m re-watching some of my favorite cartoons. Steven Universe, Legend of Korra, and Gravity Falls. I haven’t re-watched season 2 of Gravity Falls for a while.

So, now that I’m home I head to the bedroom and then my connected bathroom. With my bathroom door shut I start stripping. Underneath my clothes I’m a lean thing covered in scars, my legs covered in stretch marks, little marks that remind me of bad things. I ignore them as I take a shower.

After I’m all cleaned up and warm I jump into some comfy shorts and t-shirt. In the kitchen I whip up some seasoned chicken and wild rice, usually when I cook something fancy like that I marathon episodes of the X-Files. But today, on my weekend off, I’ve decided on something more fun.

On my couch, food on my coffee table, I put in my DVD of Gravity Falls. When I go to press play though, static pops up on my TV.

“What the hell?” I get up to check the cables connecting my TV and DVD player. I tighten both ends, and still there’s nothing but static on my TV. “Is there something wrong with the cables?” I say out loud, and when I go to grab the cable under my TV screen, a hand, yes seriously, a freaking hand comes out of my TV and grabs me! “No way in hell!” I screech, trying to pull myself out of its grasp, but its grip is iron clad.

**“Wrong.”**

A deep and inhuman voice rings out, loud enough to rock my whole room and make my ears bleed. Then the hand holding my wrist yanks, and I go flying into the TV, as if I was in Persona 4! I close my eyes the second my feet leave the ground, because of that it seems like I’m falling forever. My eyes clinched shut; it seems like an eternity, my heart pounding, before my whole body stops.

**“Open your eyes.”**

The voice isn’t so loud anymore, but it still hurts my ears. Reluctantly, I open my eyes. All around me is white, and a strange fog which kept me floating up right in this nothingness. I wanted to be angry, but I was too scared.

“W-where am I?” I ask with a fearful stutter.

**“The void, the astral plane, the dreamscape, it is called many things. We just call it The Place Inbetween.”**

I looked around, taking deep even breathes to calm myself. I wanted to believe that this was all a dream, but the painful bruise on my wrist proved otherwise. “W-why am I here?”

**“This is the only path one can take to travel to other worlds. As you have before, so you shall do again.”**

“Wha….What?!” The cryptic crap this guy was spewing only made me more confused. But before I really had time to complain it was back down the rabbit hole for me. I was falling again, but this time the stop was a short and painful one.

**-X-**

“OW! S-sh…it! Ow.” Landing on hard ground, after falling at least ten feet, hurt! But surprisingly less than I thought. I was surprised I hadn’t broken something; instead I just had a few scratches and bruises. “Jesus, what was that all about?” I say out loud as I pull myself up to stand. On my feet I clean myself off, in the process realizing I was wearing something completely different than I was before. “What?!”

Now I was wearing jeans; wallet in one pocket and my Samsung Galaxy and headphones in the other. Plus I was wearing my “Gaming is Life” shirt with my usual brown leather jacket, and in one of my jacket pockets was my sunglasses, the other pocket had my Kindle Fire in it with its newspaper like cover case. “O-kay, I think Mister Ominous Voice also put me in new clothes and gave me my stuff. Why?” I wondered, as well as having another thousand questions floating around in my head.

First things first though, I decided as I looked around, I need to know where I am. Looking around I noticed I was surrounded by a forest, the smell of dirt, grass, and wood caught in my nose. The scent of pine trees filled the air, as well as the stench of oak. But something was off….why did I smell smoke? Not only that, I saw smoke. It flickered past me into the wind; I followed the path it left behind. Looking down I saw I was standing in a giant circle of burnt grass. “What the hell?”

Swiftly, I jumped out of the circle, hoping my shoes hadn’t been burned, or that the fire had caught on anything else. I wasn’t sure if I had caused that, but if there had been a forest fire as a result I’d never let myself live that down. Out of the circle, I shake away anymore thoughts about it, it was hella creepy, that’s all I needed to know. Instead I started walking straight, hoping to find a road.

 _‘Okay, so some douchebag pulls me through a portal in my TV, and leaves me….newly clothed in a forest a million miles from nowhere? What! The! Hell! I don’t care if that was some god or demon; if I get my hands on it I’m getting some damn pay back! No one…..drops Eden Nem like trash without getting burned!’_ I think angrily, fists clenched, as I stumble through the forest.

It’s not long before I find the end of the forest, beyond it is a dirt road. I take a deep breath, happy to finally see some sign of civilization! That happiness however….did not last long. When I turned to see where the dirt road headed all the oxygen left my lungs and my heart nearly stopped. At the end of the dirt road, in all its glory, was the Mystery Shack, in real 3-D!

“WHAT THE HELL?!”

**-X-**

My scream echoed; people going into the Mystery Shack had stopped to look around; even birds flew off in a huff. Suddenly, I’m breathing quickly and unevenly, my fists clenching even tighter than before. I went to rip my hair out; rage is surging through me so much. I feel like I’m on fire. _‘What am I, some character from a terribly cliché fan fiction? This is bullshit! If only I could….’_ The thought cuts off as my mind spirals. I was thinking about how to get back, how I could find out what brought me here, how I could figure out why I was here. The thoughts came so quickly I felt like my head was filling up with water.

The only place that might hold answers was….the Mystery Shack. It seemed like, for whatever reason, I was tangled up in somebody’s web of plans. Putting me next to the Mystery Shack, one of the only places that might have answers; I was the fly to someone’s spider.

Suddenly, I grinned wickedly. _‘But this fly’s got fight in her; if someone tries to take me down I’m going to make sure they burn with me.’_ The thought was very satisfying. Odd; how someone would see fit to put me, a very non-kid-friendly kind of person, in a kid’s cartoon. With that same grin I start walking towards the shack. _‘Let’s tear some shit up!’_

**-X-**

Heading towards the Mystery Shack I remember that one podcast I had listened to. They called it the Gravity Falls Gossiper, like the newspaper in the show. For that episode Alex Hirsch himself had guest starred, but he had pretended to be Grunkle Stan the whole time. I remember him, as Stan Pines, saying that he could always use more workers for the shack. With that in mind, I had formed a plan.

I’m at the door to the Mystery Shack before I know it, my hand trembling as I opened the door. I was trying to play it cool, trying to keep an evil revenge filled mind set, but honestly I was terrified. There was too many unanswered questions, too many possibilities, too much that could go terribly wrong. As much as I try to shrug it off, since I was little, the ‘weird’ kid in the orphanage, I had had issues with anxiety. But after years of dealing with it I found little tricks that helped me through it. For a little bit it was drugs and then drinking, but after I graduated high school and stopped getting caught in fights I had less trouble with anxiety.

Now I just had to do the breathing exercise and think about….kittens, yes I said kittens! So what? Kittens are cool! Anyway, point is I had to take a few breathes before the shaking stopped. After that I went inside.

**-X-**

It seemed the last of the tourists had left right before I had arrived, even the people who I had disturbed earlier with my shouting. Realizing this made me wonder what time it was, thinking about that made me take out my phone. I turned it on to see it was almost five pm, meaning it would be dark soon. _‘Not good!’_ Quickly, I put my phone back away and came further in. At the register I saw Stan counting the money he had made today, after hearing me he looked up and swiftly put his money in his pocket.

“Welcome to the Mystery Shack! Where mysteries live and money stays!” He shouts with a smile, trying to be friendly. I’ve never been fond of people that remind me of used cars salesmen, but I knew after watching two seasons of Gravity Falls that he was a good guy, just one with lots of secrets; secrets that I knew….some of.

“Ummm…yeah.” I rub the back of my neck nervously as I step up to him. Being a bit closer I look everywhere but at him. “You think I could get a job here?”

Stan squints at me, not so sure.

“Uh,” I fumble in my pocket with my wallet. I pull out my ID, hopefully still valid, and show it to him. “I’m a really good cook, I can clean, I’m great with tech, good with people, and I have lots of experience!” I say that sentence so fast, I’m not sure if Stan even caught half of it. My last job interview went a bit better, but then again I had known that guy for the last four years, so I wasn’t so nervous. “I’malsoreallygoodinafightandlockpicking!” I say that sentence even faster, with a shaky smile on my face.

“I don’t know kid; I already got a fix-it guy and….. a girl who disappears a lot.” Stan slowly takes off his fez and scratches his head as he thinks. He sounds very unsure, but luckily I know his weakness.

“I can work twenty four seven, for free!” I shout quickly, as it physically hurts me to say such an awful sentence.

“Deal!” Stan says quickly, the moment I had said free his eyes light up. After that he holds out his hands and we shake on it.

“But uh….I kind of need living quarters, if you want me on call twenty four seven.” I add, after taking a deep breath, not realizing I had been holding it.

“Hmmm,” Stan takes back his hand and rubs his chin. “I…I might have a room for you.” He seems reluctant to say it, like he might not be so sure. But he still waves for me to follow him. I do so, going past the EMPLOYEES ONLY door.

 _‘This almost seems too easy.’_ I think as I follow him, but I have to shake myself, waiting for the other shoe to drop was just a bad mind set to have. I tried not to do that anymore.

Stan and I end up passing the kitchen, and then the living room. After that we take a right down some stairs. Stan, looking back towards the stairs, making sure no one’s coming, moves a bookcase out of in front of a door. It was the room from Carpet Diem, the one with the body swapping carpet! But I thought…. I guess Stan hid that room on purpose then. I wondered quickly, as he opened the door, if this would change things: If just me existing here would change some of the events to occur; if I was maybe making a ripple in time and space of this reality. But thinking that just made me super nervous, so I tried not to think about it.

“Here you go! All yours kid!” He opens the door like a game show host, and lures me inside.

“My names Eden.” I say quickly, walking into the room cautiously.

“Whatever.” He grumbles, standing just inside the room. Quickly, he picks up a pair of glasses unlike his own on the drawers beside him and hides it in his crossed arms. Not like that was suspicious or anything. “Rooms all yours, you can clean it and sleep on the couch.”

Sleeping on a couch to most people sounded like a down grade, but for a time I ended up sleeping on cardboard and blankets, so a couch was nice. The room itself was decorated in cob webs, ugh spiders. There was also a rat, but rats I could deal with. However, the first thing I saw that had to go was Experiment 78: That god awful blue shag rug. No thank you!

Swiftly and carefully, I rolled it up and handed it to Stan. “You can….ummm…burn this?” I requested, after the terrible eye sore was out of my hands.

“Yeah…that’s probably for the best.” He nodded in agreement, holding the thing away from himself. Apparently he had an idea of what that was too.

Looking back at the room, I studied it. While casually watching the episodes I had never noticed many things about this room. At the far end there was a nice fire place, meaning this was definitely once considered a bedroom. There was a glass prism on top of the fireplace too, probably meant to be a Pink Floyd reference at one time. To my left there was a bathroom, one only connected to this room. That was nice. The couch looked pretty comfy, and was a long one in an L shape. Without the rug you could see the old wooden boards on the floor, some were loose. There were also a set of file cabinets with a big trophy on top, I might get to snoop inside those to see if there’s any useful information in them.

Other than that, the one window was boarded up, meaning whoever slept here probably worked nights and slept days. There was a large standing mirror as well, near the bathroom, covered up by a large blanket, probably for a reason. Plus there was another table next to the other side of the couch; it held a clock and a lamp on top of it. With some elbow grease this place would become just as good as my old apartment.

“Umm…thank you, this is great!” I saw honestly, smiling at Stan with the best smile I could. He still looks at me like ‘I’m-still-not-so-sure-about-you’ but that was understandable. “Could I get some cleaning supplies or….should I buy some?” Due to Stan being a cheapskate I was worried I’d have to go buy cleaning supplies with the last bit of money in my wallet, really I knew I’d need that for clothes and hygiene products.

“I’ll have my handy man bring you some down, you start seven sharp missy!” He says with authority as he turns to leave, still watching me as he walks out. “Night!” He calls over his shoulder as he finally edges out of the doorway. “SOOS!” I hear him shout as he walks up the stairs. I flinch at his yell.

Well, things could be worse.

….God, why did I have to think that?

**-X-**

Shortly after, Soos appears and hands me some cleaning supplies. He tips his hat and greets me with a friendly smile. He even helps me clean up; I asked him if he could maybe nail down some of the loose boards, he does so happily. With his help it takes maybe an hour. After that the cobwebs are gone, dust is taken care of, the floor is clean, the bathroom is in working order again, and the couch is clean with new sheets and a pillow on it. After we put some effort into it, the room turned out great!

“Thank you so much man, I really appreciate it!” I say to Soos as I’m putting the cleaning supplies away.

“No problem, dude!” He puts his hammer back on his belt. “Oh, and hey there’s two little dudes staying here too. I…uh, think they went to go fight zombies or something.”

I blink, thinking about that for a second. _‘Zombies? Does he mean gnomes?’_ I wonder, but shake my head. It didn’t matter. “Okay, thanks for the heads up!” I reply, waving to Soos as he heads upstairs. After he’s gone I head back into the room, close the door, and collapse on the couch. I was exhausted!

I sigh deeply then get up; my jacket was now hanging from the bathroom door. Before I started cleaning I had put the stuff from my pants into my jacket pockets. With a shaking hand I fish out my phone and headphones. I put my earbuds in my ears, connect them, and I go to turn off the lamp in the room. With it off the room is dark. Carefully, music already playing in my head, I take off my shirt and pants. Then I drag myself under the covers on the couch and fall asleep with music flowing in my head.

**-X-**

**“Protect them!”**

_“Who?”_

**“The forest, the trees, the oaks and the pines!”**

_“What?”_

**“The darkness is coming. The demon is near.”**

_“You mean Cipher?”_

**“Nightmares are not the only danger!”**

_“Speak clearly! I don’t understand!”_

**“You have been gone for far too long.”**

**-X-**

I woke up that morning with a cold sweat and a frustrated scream on the edge of my throat. The dream was fuzzy, I couldn’t remember anything I saw, but I could just remember the conversation I had. The thing from before had been speaking to me, with a mission objective. But he still hadn’t learned how to not speak in cryptic bullshit. So I only caught about half of it. He was worried about the Pines, clearly and Bill Cipher too. Just thinking about the triangle of doom gave me shivers, luckily, if I was correct, he hadn’t been summoned yet so I still had some time.

It was early morning; my phone said it was six. So I decided to get a head start on the day. Putting back on my only clothes, I got up and went to the kitchen. No one was up yet, so quickly and silently I made breakfast for three. I put chocolate chips, strawberries and whip cream on Mabel’s, the bacon, eggs, and a question mark of syrup on Dipper’s pancakes, and lastly a Stan shaped omelet for Mister Pines.

After that was done I headed into town, trying to avoid Dipper and Mabel a bit while also needing to get myself a few things. I walked, thinking as I did. I thought about the different things that I’d have to go through, and things I needed to avoid. I hoped I wouldn’t run into any creatures myself. But if my mission was to protect the Mystery Shack and its inhabitants, I’d gladly take on that job. However, I’d watch my step along the way; I would never be anyone’s puppet again! My hand unconsciously went to my left wrist and rubbed against the burnt tattoo of angel wings there. Never again!

It takes a bit to get to town but after I do it’s easy enough to find a super market. There I buy the essentials; a few shirts, some shorts, underwear, a tooth brush, some diphenhydramine, pain killers, soap, shampoo, female products, a switch blade, some books, stuff I can use to lock pick, and a journal to write in. I have just enough to pay for that and then I carry the bags all the way back to the shack, my stomach growling.

By the time I’m back to the shack it’s around ten and there are tourists already showing up. I hope Mister Pines won’t yell at me when I walk in. He’s busy with a tour though, so I just walk through and head straight to my room. Through the door I set the bags down and start unpacking. I put clothes up in the drawers, which are now empty but weren’t before. I put my hygiene stuff in the bathroom, my pills in the bathroom cabinet, and my books and journal on top of the file cabinet. But I put the knife and lock picks in my pocket.

Running back to the front I realize Wendy wasn’t minding the register, so I slipped in behind it and smiled. This was my new job after all….my new life even.

**-X-**

_End notes: I have some ideas for original concepts as well as I plan on expounding on some of the shorts. Plus if there’s anybody who have mythological creatures in mind, I’ll write those in too. (I know this chapter was pretty boring, but it’s a slow start and a set up chapter, next chapter will be a lot better!)_

_PS- The next four chapters have already been written at this point, so I can upload weekly for a while._


	2. A day on the lake!

_This chapter takes place in episode 2._

* * *

 

 

 

**“Fallen Gravity”**

**Chapter 2:** _A day on the lake!_

It was a week or so later that things finally started to heat up. Physically and metaphorically, Oregon does get pretty hot in the summer after all. By now I’ve met and slightly befriended both Mabel and Dipper, and I think Stan trusts me a bit more. The first time we met Mabel screeched, saying she loved my hair. That….no one’s ever reacted that way about my hair before to be honest. Dipper was….sweaty; I think I made him nervous at first. But then I told him I liked his hat and he smiled. Baby steps. Mister Pines was a little easier to…..handle I guess? Being super helpful, plus being able to lie to cops, pick pocket, and lock pick got me on his good side. Soos was already super friendly, and Wendy was too. She even let me borrow her eye liner once, after mentioning her friend Robbie had used it first.

So, all and all, things are going okay. I can’t say it’s been boring around here, that’s for sure. I’ve been keeping up with odd things, writing them in my own journal. And I got lucky; the file cabinet in my room was full of note cards and files about experiments and the wild life of Gravity Falls. So I’ve been reading through those too. But really, it’s all stuff that would have been in the journals I imagine.

The next morning was really the beginning of it all though.

**-X-**

Up at dawn, as I’ve had to be lately, the alarm on my phone wakes me up. There had been no more messages from Mister Ominous Voice since my first night here, not even when I tried to call him. I get up and head to the shower. Clean, I get dressed; the usual leather jacket with a black shirt and jeans. With my boots on I look up. The little bit of light coming from the window was reflecting on the mirror. I hadn’t uncovered that mirror since I took this room, but maybe I should? Suddenly, I was very curious about it.

Slowly, I got up and walked towards the mirror. With one hard yank the blanket on the mirror comes off. Dust flies everywhere, distracting me from what was first reflected in the glass. After I fold up the blanket and set it aside I look at the large standing mirror. The glass, even after sitting for so long, looked perfectly clean. I was once suspicious of the mirror, but now I see there’s nothing strange about it.

With a shrug I leave the room, as I exit a chill goes up my spine, I suddenly feel like I’m being watched.

**-X-**

In the kitchen Mabel and Dipper sit at the table, having a maple syrup drinking contest? I remember that happening in the show but it still seems weird to me. Plus, Stan being such a cheapskate, how do we have two bottles of syrup at the same time?

Anyway, since I started working here I pretty much do all the cooking. Not that I mind, everyone seems to like my cooking, and I take pride in it. I’ve been cooking in restaurants since I was old enough to take a job, so it was the one thing I was really good at. By now I even knew how to make everyone’s favorites just how they liked them.

While I’m making breakfast I can hear the two kids talking about the photo contest Dipper sees in the weird magazine. Ironically, Gideon is on the back of it, but those two don’t know him yet. Ah, innocence. This helps me to realize what day it was though, and what was going to happen today. The Gobblewonker.

As I’m done with the pancakes I go to set them on the table, I’m just about to say something when I get wacked in the back of the head with a newspaper.

“Ow!”

“Good morning, knuckle heads!”

I glare at the old man, who is cheerfully holding the newspaper that just hit me. But he barely seems to notice. Around here, sometimes it felt like I was invisible. Oh, who am I kidding, that’s my life in a nutshell.

“You three know what day it is!” Stan continues, as if he never finished talking.

I shrug while Dipper rubs his chin.

“Umm, happy anniversary?” The kid asks.

“Mazel tov!” Mabel exclaimed.

“A break?” I added in, equally as sarcastic and unenthusiastic.

Stan walks over to Dipper and hits him next, knocking his hat askew. “It’s family fun day geniuses!” He replied, sounding slightly upset as he threw the newspaper on the table.

This was my queue to leave, the word family….has always made me uncomfortable. Plus, I’m sure Stan just wants to spend today with Dipper and Mabel. I try and sneak out, but instead of Stan going to grab milk like he usually does in the episode I remember, he grabs me by the shoulder and points at eggs in the refrigerator without stopping his sentence. That was his nice way of asking for an omelet.

“We’re cutting off work and having one of those….ya know, bonding type deals.” He explains as I grab the eggs and start making him his usual omelet. He then pulls up a chair beside Mabel and watches me. 

Behind me, Dipper is fixing his hat as he asks. “Grunkle Stan, is this going to be anything like our last family bonding day?”

Queue flash back where Dipper and Mabel are drawing fake money, and I end up in the city prison for two days after taking responsibility for the whole fiasco. On the bright side, I got fifty real bucks after Stan broke me back out, for keeping my mouth shut.

I begin to put stuff inside the omelet and flip it as Stan starts talking again. “Alright, maybe I haven’t been the best summer caretaker-”

“More like the worst.” I whisper under my breath. Two seconds later I’m hit with a flying newspaper in the back of the head, _again!_ “Ow!”

“But I swear that today we’re gonna have some real family fun! Now, who wants to put on some blind folds and get into my car!” Stan shouts as he finishes his speech excitedly.

The kids yell. “Yay!”

At the same time I shout. “Not it!” At least this time he has nothing to hit me with when I can feel his glare.

The little, wait what, from Dipper made me chuckle.

**-X-**

After breakfast was finished, things were packed, and even I was roped in to heading to the car. Apparently I was the pack mule for today, since Soos had the day off. I guess I was okay with this; it wasn’t like I had anything else to do really.

When Mister Pines went to get in the driver seat though, I grabbed his door. “Uh, Mister Pines, maybe I should drive? Since you can’t see very well with those cataracts and all.”  I say nervously, as he eyes me down.

Suddenly, he shrugs and hands me the keys. “Fine with me.” But then as I go to grab the keys he grabs my hand and pulls me forward. “But if you so much as put a scratch on my car, you’re paying for it, Green-Hair!” He declares, then let’s go of me and slides past as he heads for the passenger’s side.

I let the cold shiver run down my body before I get inside and start driving.

**-X-**

“Blind folds never lead to anything good.”

“You got that right!” I agreed with Dipper, remembering the last time I was blind folded. Right after I said that Stan elbowed me in the side, hard. “Ow!” I whined, trying very carefully not to run into anything. It had been a while since I last drove a car.

Mabel says something about senses but I’m concentrating on the road, so I don’t really hear her. It doesn’t take long to get to the lake. A few miles and then a drive up a large hill and we’re there. The moment we stop Stan shuffles the kids out, then goes to grab his fishing hat and vest. I end up carrying everything else.

Finally Stan takes their blind folds off and shouts. “Ta-da! It’s fishing season!” He said it as grandly as he could.

“Fishing?”

“What are you playing at old man?”

Both twins are equally confused.

“You’re gonna love it! The whole town’s out here!” He points out; as all four of us look out towards the lake we do indeed see everyone from town.

“This is what happens when you can’t get internet.” I shudder at the thought. Having no internet these past few weeks has been a nightmare. Stan says something about family bonding, but I’m still just thinking about how much I miss my Wifi when he does.

“Grunkle Stan, why do you want to bond with us all of a sudden?” Dipper asks behind me, but I’m still watching the water as him and Stan talk.

I didn’t understand it either, but I knew why that was. I had never had a family myself; I do remember having a dad a long time ago but nothing about him. To me it always felt like he left me when I was really little, abandoned me. Being in an orphanage after that, well I became bitter. People tried to adopt me but I didn’t want to be adopted. I had already developed the mentality that I was all I ever needed, no friends and certainly no family could help me. And I was okay with that. So all of this was foreign to me.

“It’s just gonna be you, me, and those goofy hats on a boat for ten hours!” I heard Stan shout as my mind came back to the present.

“Ten hours!” Dipper exclaims.

“Does that mean I can leave then?” I asked at the same time, since I wasn’t included in Stan’s statement.

“I brought the joke book!” The uncle replies, holding up a terrible pun book that even made my skin crawl. I thought he had ignored my statement, but the next second he used the book to slap me on the back, hard, knocking the wind from me lungs. “And no!” He added while I was coughing.

Suddenly, in the nick of time some would say, McGucket starts shouting and running towards us. Of course it’s about the lake monster, which catches both Dipper and Mabel’s attention. Everybody seems to congregate around the crazy old man as he talks about the monster, but I just stand back, still holding all of Stan’s crap as I had been.

 

“Well that happened,” I heard Stan say as people started parting ways from the docks. “Now let’s untie this boat and get out on that lake! Green-Hair!” Stan says as he gets in the boat and begins to untie it from the dock, I imagine the moment he remembered I had all his stuff he yelled for me.

I took a long deep sigh before walking over to the boat, and then I began to carefully put the fishing supplies in it. Behind me Dipper and Mabel were whispering, I just ignored them as the old man watched me put his stuff in the boat.

The last bit that I caught of what Dipper said was: “Imagine what you could do with five hundred dollars?”

I did, and it wasn’t much. “Survive, maybe?” I mumbled, and then went to go sit on the dock, but before I could get off the boat Stan grabbed my shoulder.

“Where do you think you’re going, kid?” He asks.

“Uhh…” I point to the end of the dock. “To sit down?”

“No way, I need someone to help me bait these hooks!” He grins madly and shoves me, so that I end up sitting parallel to him, at the end of the boat. Then he hands me a pole and a box of worms. “You know how to bait a hook, right kid?”

“My name’s Eden,” I say for about the hundredth time, he shrugs the statement away. “And yes, I do.” After that I take a worm from the box and bait the hook on the pole he had given me. I’m baiting hooks as Mabel and Dipper start yelling about a monster hunt, I know how this whole ordeal goes so I just keep baiting hooks, by the time Soos shows up I had finished all four rods on the boat.

“So what’da ya say?” Stan asks, but by the time he has Dipper and Mabel are already gone. The heartbroken look on his face sends a pang of guilt into my heart, but that look quickly forms into one of anger. “Ingrates!” He yells with his fist to the sky. Stan sits down then and says. “Ah, who needs ‘em, I got Green-Hair here to keep me company!”

The moment he says that I cry internally, hoping this day would end very very soon.

**-X-**

Out on the lake, the puns come out first, to break the awkward silence between us.

“A bicycle can't stand on its own because it’s two-tired!”

I raise one brow. “Wha?”

“Nevermind!” Stan shouts, realizing the only way I could have gotten that joke is if I could have read it. Instead, he flips to another page. “What's the definition of a will?”

I shrugged, my fishing pole sitting beside me. “You got me.”

“It's a dead giveaway!” Stan shouts cheerfully, laughing at his pun.

Even I can’t help but to smile and laugh a little at that one.

“So,” Stan rubs the back of his neck nervously. “Who taught you to fish, your dad?”

The second he asked that question my smile vanished. I shook my head. “No, I’ve never really known my dad. A friend taught me a few years back.” And by friend I meant acquaintance, and by that I meant Ben, the guy who used to sell me drugs, a long long time ago.

“Oh,” Stan’s voice drops, clearly uncomfortable. Quickly he picks up the book again and turns to another page. “Deja Moo: The feeling that you've heard this bull before.” Stan laughs again this time, but awkwardly.

_‘You better believe I have.’_ I thought. The rest of the day wasn’t much better.

**-X-**

By the end of the day Stan had ruined one couple’s relationship, traumatized a kid, ran from the cops, insulted a grandfather and his grandkids, and told me way too many puns. But I did manage to catch three fish, so that was nice. In the end though, Dipper, Mabel, and Soos came back to join us. It was nice, seeing Stan smile with them, after seeing him mope all day long. However, as usual I was pushed to the back, no longer a part of their world now that they were back together. I was just content to watch though. Seeing happiness is as close as I’ve ever gotten to the emotion. And that was fine by me.

Fate, however, wasn’t as content as I was.

**-X-**

Everyone was exhausted by the time we got back. Soos had gone home; I had driven the Pines family back to the Mystery Shack, and then unloaded the fish and the fishing gear. It was late, so Dipper and Mabel headed to bed; Mister Pines had a drink then did the same. But I needed to wash the fish and lake smell off of me before I was content to sleep.

After I got back to my room I locked the door behind me and started stripping. My clothes were either wet with sweat or lake water, so I threw everything I was wearing, except my jacket, into my dirty clothes basket beside the bathroom door. With that done I started some water, when it was hot enough I got in and soaked for a while. My aching knees and stiff joints rejoiced at feeling the heat from the water. For a long time I’ve had trouble with my joints, mainly because of something that happened a long time ago, but now they would become stiff and achy easily. I hated it. I used to soak in Epsom salt and hot water, it helped but Epsom salt isn’t easy to find around here.

After half an hour, I got out and dried myself off. I headed back into my room to grab some clothes, as I did that I passed the mirror. I avoided eye contact at all cost; I didn’t need to see my scars today. Today had left me feeling a bit better than usual, so seeing myself would just ruin my mood.

**_“You’re not very confident are you?”_ **

I jumped, hearing a voice all of a sudden terrified me. My heart started pounding and I twirled around as fast as I could, but nobody was there. When I didn’t see anybody I began to feel extremely anxious. Was I losing my mind? I’ve done a lot of things, but I’ve never had to question my sanity before. I’ve always been very grounded, even when I was on drugs I was still very serious and somber. So…what had that been?

**_“Woo-hoo! Over here, feather brain!”_ **

Suddenly, the voice was back. Hearing it again made me realize it sounded kind of like my own, but twisted and distorted. Like a demons voice in a movie or something. But hearing it again also made me realize where it was coming from. The mirror!

Slowly and cautiously, I stepped in front of the mirror. Where once my normal reflection was; there was now a reflection of me but with inverted colors. Instead of green and black hair she had red and white hair, her eyes were red and black, her skin was pale where mine was very tan, my white scars were black on her skin, the tattoo on my wrist was white on her’s, and her nails were painted black it looked like. The terrifying icing on the cake? She had fangs.

“What the hell?!” I exclaimed, feeling a shiver bone deep go through my whole body.

**_“Got it in one, sister!”_** The reflection smiled wickedly with her fangs, standing proudly as if she was queen.

“What…who are you?” I asked, looking all around the mirror, wondering if this was all some elaborate prank. Stan seemed to enjoy scaring the crap out of me; I wouldn’t put this past him.

**_“Hmmm…”_** The creature tapped her cheek in thought. **_“I’m the opposite of you, so…..You could call me-”_** The creature stopped before finishing her sentence, she looked at me and shook her head. **_“No, too soon for that.”_** She mumbled under her breath. **_“I was once called Azael, but since this weak form would put shame to such a mighty name you can call me….Azura!”_** The creature looked proud she had come up with such a marvelous new name, and grinned with delight.

“But….if you’re the opposite of me wouldn’t that make you Nede?” I asked, tilting my head as I stared at her. To be honest, she looked badass compared to me. Too bad I never went through a gothic stage. I looked pretty cool in black and red.

Azura scowled and scoffed at my comment. **_“As if I would ever allow anyone to call me by such a pathetic name!”_** She shouts angrily.

I rolled my eyes. Now that I understood what was going on, and I no longer felt threatened, I was back to my snarky self again. “Whatever, you didn’t answer my question though!”

 

Azura pouted her lips and tapped her chin. **_“Very well, I suppose I can tell you.”_** She says, as if it was such a great honor to know her secret. I certainly didn’t feel honored. **_“I was once known as the great demon Azael. I was Fallen, along with my brother and Lord; Lucifer.”_** Suddenly, I felt my heart start to pound again as she spoke. **_“I came here, many years ago, to hunt down one of my own brothers, as he had betrayed us. Instead, I run into some pathetic human who had come to study the paranormal of this town. The little rat tricked me, and sealed me inside this mirror so that he could question me. However, not long after that he disappeared, and I was left to stew inside this confounded mirror!”_**

Many things came to my mind as Azura spoke. Who was the brother she was hunting down? Why were her words making me feel so emotional? Why did Stanley seal her inside this mirror? Why couldn’t she break out? She was Fallen after all, she should be extremely powerful!

**_“Hellooo! Are you still paying attention, feather brain?”_ **

I growled when she snapped me out of my thoughts. “My name is Eden, damnit!” I shouted with my fists clenched.

The demon raised a brow. **_“I know that, but what of its importance?”_**

Azura said the statement as if my name was not important at all, and I supposed it wasn’t to her. But I was starting to get so sick of all the nicknames! It was driving me crazy! Even Mabel called me Edi instead of Eden. And after she started doing it Soos and Wendy followed soon after. Only Dipper calls me Eden now!

I sighed, giving up on my anger. “Nevermind.”

Suddenly, Azura grinned mischievously. **_“You know, if you release me from this mirror I could tell you everything you ever wanted to know. I’ve been watching you for a while, I know you have questions. We could make a deal, you and I!”_**

The idea of making a deal with a demon made my stomach churn. This was a Fallen we are talking about; she’s probably ten times more powerful than Bill Cipher! I could only imagine the destruction she would cause unleashed. She’d probably want revenge on Stanley and his family, for imprisoning her. And uncaged I wouldn’t be able to stop her; it’d be an absolute slaughter. I know I kind of hate Mister Ominous Voice for dropping me off here, but I still wanted to protect the Pines family and Gravity Falls, even if he hadn’t asked me to.

Speaking of him, that reminded me of his warning.

**“The darkness is coming. The demon is near.”**

_“You mean Cipher?”_

**“Nightmares are not the only danger!”**

Could Mister Ominous Voice have been trying to warn me about Azura too?

**_“Well, feather brain, what’s it going to be?”_** Azura was beginning to become impatient; she was tired of waiting while I concentrated on my thoughts. Now she was just standing there, her arms crossed, as if she didn’t have all day.

I grinded my teeth in rage. “You can take your deal and shove it! There’s no way I’m letting a demon loose!”

Now Azura was mad, she growled like an animal, her eyes suddenly on fire. **_“How dare you! I offer to share my knowledge with you, and you insult me! Do you have any idea how many would kill for my information! Millions! And for me to offer it to the likes of you, you should be honored!”_**

I rolled my eyes again, my arms crossed as I flipped the demon off. “Oh please, you’re the one who got sealed inside this thing. That doesn’t really _reflect_ well on your great intelligence!” The pun was unintended, but I saw an opportunity and took it. Hanging out with Stan all day really did a number on my brain.

Azura’s whole form was on fire now, her rage knowing no end. **_“I WILL DESTROY YOU!”_** She howled in fury.

I just shrugged, remembering how tired I was I yawned. “Good luck doing that from inside there.”

Suddenly, Azura stopped simmering and calmed herself, but the fury of a Fallen was still in her eyes. **_“Even if I do not, your fate will. It.”_** She stopped, swiftly breaking one of her own fingers, she made sure to hold her hand up right where I could see the carnage best. This grabbed my attention and held it, as I heard the resounding snap of bones. **_“Will.”_** Another finger gone; I began to watch in horror. **_“Tear you.”_** Finger number three was snapped right off her hand, blood and flesh alike. **_“To shreds.”_** Now her pinky was gone, and she just held her hand up, enjoying my look of wide eyed terror, as blood oozed out everywhere.

Her smile was beyond devilish. **_“Well,”_** As she spoke she flexed her hand and it went back to being five fingered again, as if what she had done had never happened. **_“Good night!”_** With one sly wink and show of fangs she faded away, being replaced by my normal reflection again.

With my jaw still dropped, I shouted. “Son of a bitch!” Tempted to hit the mirror and shatter it, I stopped myself and shook my head. _‘So much for sleeping tonight.’_

**-X-**

_End notes: Azura is also based off a character I’m creating for an original script. She’ll be in this story quite a bit. I hope you guys enjoyed!_

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


	3. Wax and magic don’t mix!

_This chapter takes place in episode 3._

_____________________________________________________________________________________

**“Fallen Gravity”**

**Chapter 3:** _Wax and magic don’t mix!_

Another week passed with barely any incidents. Even Azura had been quiet, but often enough she appeared in the mirror again and haunted me. She was….nuts, disturbed, most definitely a demon. She liked to display shows of gore some nights while I was trying to read, vivid displays. However, unknown to her, I’ve seen such displays before, perhaps not to that extent, but she’d have to do better than that to rival the nightmares I already have plaguing me.

I ended up keeping her a secret from the rest of the Mystery Shack residents; oddly she stayed hidden when any of them were in the room. I thought she might try to make a deal with them, but for some reason she only wanted to make a deal with me. I tried to find notes about her in the file cabinet. But the only one I could find read: DO NOT TALK TO IT. Which was ominous to say the least.

Other than her things seemed strangely calm…..until today.

**-X-**

I was in the kitchen, washing dishes in the sink at the time. Dipper and Mabel were watching some horrible TV show about a duck when Soos started yelling. I knew he had been sweeping up the halls, since I asked him too. So when he slid around to the living room I heard his shoes squeal.

“Hey dudes, you’ll never guess what I found!”

There was more shouting, and honestly I wasn’t very interested. I already knew it would be about the hidden room with the wax figures, so I just kept washing dishes. What I didn’t expect was for Soos and Mabel to come running into the kitchen, only to drag me away while they’re both excitedly talking about buried treasure.

I get dragged to the room, then finally they both let go of me. Soos starts talking then, about the hidden room in question. “So I was cleaning up when I found this secret door hidden behind the wallpaper.” He clutches the broom he had been holding in his other hand tightly. “It’s crazy bonkers creepy!” He exclaims as he slowly opens the door.

 I sigh and watch as everybody walks into the dark and dusty room. Reluctantly, I follow behind. Like my room had been, this place was covered in cob webs. Ugh, more spiders. All around were wax figurines of slightly famous people. All of which I recognized.

Dipper and Mabel oh and awe at the figures, stating the obvious, that this was indeed a secret wax museum and that the figurines looked life like. To me they didn’t, too much of a shine to their skin. For some reason that fact in particular creeped me out.

“Except for that one.” Dipper shined his flash light on Stan and I rolled my eyes.

“Hello!” Everyone screamed, except for me, and Stan laughed. “It’s just me, your Grunkle Stan!” Everyone screamed again and I facepalmed.

**-X-**

“Behold the Gravity Falls wax museum!”

Walking around, I paid little to no attention to what Stan began to say. To be honest I’d rather go back to washing dishes, but leaving these guys alone with the cursed wax figures didn’t sit right with me. So I just sat on the stair step and watched the interaction, keeping a close eye on each wax person.

The conversation cycled through and it felt like I was watching the show again for a minute there. Stan forgets Larry King’s name, finds wax Abraham Lincoln melted on the floor, and then Mabel offers to make a new wax figure out of the old wax. Her comment about craft master got me thinking though; I needed to go through her and Dipper’s dirty clothes. Tomorrow was laundry day, and usually her stuff had something stuck to it that I had to tear off before I could put it in the washing machine.

Shortly thereafter everyone dispersed. I went back to finishing dishes, and then Stan asked me to clean up the newly discovered room. That wasn’t fun at all, but after I was done, the wax figures were moved out to the front, into the tourist part of the shack, and the room was turned into a new parlor.

For the next several hours Mabel got to work on her wax Stan figure. I just kept cleaning though, since that was my job after all. I made no comment during the whole thing, as I felt I was in no place to. But after she was finished I found myself staring at her creation, then saw Stan freak out when he saw it. I understand why he did. I believed it was because of his brother, but really I understand on an emotional level what it was like to see your reflection come to life now.

The next day the wax museum was opened once again. And boy did we end up busy!

**-X-**

During the presentation for the new wax Stan, I hide out near the door to the shack, just across from both the ticket booth and the stage. I heard Wendy and Dipper laughing about how Stan had bribed them. Stan had bribed everyone, except for me of course. But I really didn’t care. I was determined to keep an eye on the cursed wax figures.

None of Stan’s jokes were funny, Mabel’s comment about other bodily fluids freaked me out, and Toby’s turkey baster made me chuckle. Hearing McGucket ask whether the wax figures were alive or not made me wonder if, under the madness, he already knew the truth about them; but the thought ended when people began to riot because there was no pizza. I knew, deep down, I’d have to clean up the mess they made.

And guess what, I was right, that’s how the rest of my day was spent. Joy of joys.

**-X-**

That night I ended up soaking in the bath again, trying to unwind after the harsh and exhausting day. When I heard Stan scream, I ignored it. Dipper and Mabel could handle the mystery for now. I was finally comfortable, and I knew everyone but the stupid wax figure was okay. I hear the cops come into the shack by the time I’m out of the bath, I knew they were going to make fun of Dipper, and while I wanted to be there for him, I knew hearing the mockery would be what makes him determined to discover what happened to wax Stan, so I just leave it be.

When I go to put on my night clothes though, surprisingly Azura was in the mood to chat.

 ** _“The cursed creatures are out and about again.”_** She states so assuredly, acting as if she’s uninterested, but I know her game by now.

I glare at her, reluctant to ask her any questions. But usually when she starts the conversation she’s willing to answer. “How do you know about that?”

Suddenly, she began to grin. **_“No, dear girl, the real question is how do you know?”_** She replies with interest.

I bit my tongue and felt like kicking myself. Of course it had been a trap! And I fell for it! And here I thought I was on to her. I wasn’t supposed to know the wax figures were cursed, as a normal human being there was no way I should have already known that.

Shaking my head I refused to reply. One thing I had learned, Azura couldn’t read my mind. There were things she could do, but one of the things she could not do was invade my brain.

Azura sighed with boredom. **_“Fine, don’t tell me feather brain!”_** She pouted like a five year old. **_“But to answer your question, I could sense their ill intent. You know by now that there are certain things I can still do even while trapped in this mirror. And I can still sense dark magic and beings of the supernatural.”_** It seemed Azura really was determined to chat tonight, if she was willing to give up more about herself so freely.

This made me wonder, what all could she do? Silently, I sat down on the couch to contemplate. If she’s been watching me since day one, could she have sensed Mister Ominous Voice while he was in my dreams, and perhaps know what he is? The question stewed inside of me, but no matter how hard I tried to ask I didn’t have the courage. I was terrified to learn what Mister Ominous Voice might or might not be. So, instead of humoring her, I just ignored her and went to sleep.

She pouted about it the rest of the night.

**-X-**

The next morning the living room was turned into a crime scene… with toilet paper.

 

As Mabel and Dipper played detectives I just stood there and watched them, thinking _: ‘Guess who gets to clean up this mess? Oh yeah, me.’_ I grumbled in silence. It’s only a few seconds into their investigations that they find several, very obvious clues. _‘How the hell did the cops miss that? Oh…right, because they’re morons.’_ After Mabel and Dipper were done with the crime scene, and went to go talk to Soos, I started cleaning up behind them.

By the time I was done I heard a shout.

“Green-Hair!”

I sighed. _‘What has my life become?’_

When I walk outside I see Mabel and Dipper leaving….with an axe. Then there was Stan trying to get the coffin out of his car. The moment his eyes land on me he signals me to come here. I walk towards him with hunched shoulders.

“Bring this coffin in, will ya, kid?” Stan may have said that like a question, but really it was a demand.

“You’re an awful parental guardian, you know that right?” I say seriously as I go to grab the coffin.

I could feel a glare on my back then, honestly I’ve gotten used to it. “What ‘da ya mean?”

“They had an axe!” I shouted as I pulled the coffin out. “I’m all for kids getting to be independent, but you could have least took the axe from them!” I stated, now caring the coffin in my arms as I walked behind Stan back into the shack.

The old man shrugged. “Ah, they’ll be fine!”

I sigh and roll my eyes. Why was this man so stubborn?

I end up carrying the coffin, by myself, all the way into the parlor. Stan signaled for me to put it down, then I ended up bringing like, twenty freaking chairs into the parlor, which I also did by myself. After that I arranged the chairs accordingly, then put the coffin up on a stand, then put wax Stan in the coffin, and THEN I HAD TO BRING ALL THE WAX FIGURES IN AND PUT THEM ON THE CHAIRS! The hell is this job anyway? If I had a choice I would never work here. I mean, come on! This is insanity! And the whole time Stan didn’t lift one finger!

When I thought I was done, Stan shoved a painting at my chest and asked me to hang it. I was so tempted to tell him where he could hang it! But instead I got a hammer and a nail and hung it up. By the time I really was done, it was dark and the twins were back. Shortly after their return we had the stupid funeral for that Stan figure. Soos, Dipper, and Mabel got seats up front, then all the rest of the seats were taken by those cursed wax figures. I was left hanging out in the back, to be honest I wouldn’t have been there if I didn’t know things were about to get dangerous.

When Stan went to the podium, which ironically I hadn’t set up, I rolled my eyes. _‘Let’s just get this show over with!’_ I thought.

“Kids, Soos, lifeless wax figures, Green-Hair.” The fact I was the last person on that list really showed where I was in Stan’s opinions. “Thank you for coming.” Soos blows his nose. “Some might say it’s wrong to love a wax replica of yourself.”

_‘It is.’_

“They’re wrong!” Soos shouted, standing up with an accusing finger.

_‘God, everyone here is crazy!’_

“Easy Soos!” Stan replied, and then quickly looked over to the coffin. “Wax Stan, I hope you’re picking pockets in wax heaven!” He exclaimed.

 _‘He’s not.’_ I thought glumly.

“I’m sorry; I got glitter in my eye!” Stan shouts, his eyes full of tears, as he runs out of the room. I swiftly side step before he runs into me. Right behind him Soos follows, shouting: Dude! After they leave I take a deep breath, glad the ridiculousness was over, finally!

When I hear Dipper sigh, I work up the courage to walk over to him and his sister. Reluctantly, and with anxiety in my chest, I sit beside Dipper as he speaks.

“Those cops were right about me.” He says sadly.

Without any hesitation Mabel chimes in. “Dipper, we’ve come so far, we can’t give up now!” I admire the courage and confidence in her words; she was so sure they could do it.

With some courage of my own I gently put my hand on Dipper’s shoulder and smiled for him. “You guys did an amazing job! Don’t let anyone else tell you otherwise! You found all the clues, and took the investigation to another level. Those cops couldn’t even find the foot prints. If anyone can solve this case,” Suddenly I tighten my grasp gently on Dipper’s shoulder, as he looks up with honest eyes. “It’s you Dipper.” I meant every word I said, and I think it meant a lot to him too.

The smile he smiled back was small but sincere. Still, he sighed, and I reluctantly let go of his shoulder so he could get up and find the rest of the pieces he needed to solve the puzzle. “But I considered everything. The weapon,” He began, walking over to the coffin. “The motive, the clues.” Dipper sighed, and then looked down into the coffin. “Wax Stan’s shoe has a hole in it.”

I got up at the same time as Mabel, both of us walked to the coffin, then leaned over to see what Dipper was looking at.

“All the wax guys have that.” Mabel explained, looking at her brother. “It’s where the pole thingy attaches to their stand dealy.”

The moment she was done talking I felt something. A chill ran up my spine and I could suddenly feel a thousand eyes watching me. They were waking up, and somehow I could sense it. It felt like shadows, moving ever closer.

“Wait a minute! What has holes in its shoes and no finger prints?” Dipper said, finally putting the pieces together.

I turned around as he finished, watching the wax figures as they began to move. I felt my heart pound, and this strange sensation in my stomach. All over I felt numb, but inside my chest it felt like there was a fire.

“Mabel! The murderers are-“

Dipper doesn’t get to finish. And I watch in fear as Sherlock Holmes steps out of his seat. “Standing right behind you!” He shouts.

The kids finally turn around, Dipper shouting some names, but everything just a roar in my ears. The wax figures come forward; one takes the axe from Mabel quickly. They surround us as soon as they can, and then Sherlock Holmes leads the group.

“Congratulation, my two amateur sleuths! You’ve unburied the truth! And now were going to bury you!” The detective announces, pointing his magnifying glass at the twins. Even though everything else had been a blur for those last few seconds, that sentence stood out.

The fire in my chest suddenly exploded. “Over my dead body!” I shouted in fury, pulling the kids back behind me, as I tried to protect them.

Sherlock shrugs. “That sounds ideal to me.”

I gritted my teeth and clenched my fists. Why was Sherlock Holmes always such a bastard?

Dipper leaned around from behind me, and with a look of terror still on his face, he asked. “But how is this possible? You’re made of wax!”

Mabel leaned over from my other side and chimed in. “Are you magic?”

“What does it matter!” I shouted, glaring at the cursed figures. “They want us dead!”

“We’re cursed, you confounded simpletons!” Sherlock shouted with rage. “Cursed to come to life whenever the moon is waxing!”

I raised a brow. “Why is everyone obsessed with puns and irony around here?”

Sherlock glared at me before returning to their tale of woe. He sadly spins the story of how Stan bought them, or stole really, and set up the wax museum. They had fun while it lasted, but when Stan forgot about them they decided to seek revenge.

“If that story was supposed to make me feel sorry for you, it didn’t work buddy.” I bark, with added snark and bitterness to my bite.

“Enough!” Sherlock shouted. “Now that you know our secret you must die!” Then all the wax figures got together, and their eyes rolled up into their heads.

“If that was supposed to scare me, well, you failed again!” Considering the fact I live with a demon now, it would take a lot more than wax figures to terrify me. Even though the idea of them coming to life scared me at first, that fear had now turned to rage.

Blood boiling under my skin, I yanked the axe out of …..Okay, honestly I’m not sure who she was, but the woman wearing a yellow dress, I grabbed the axe from her hands. Since it was a real axe, it sliced her head off like a knife going through hot butter.

But that didn’t stop the figures from advancing on the twins. “Use hot stuff!” I shouted, the two looked at me then behind themselves. Quickly, Dipper grabbed the pot of coffee and Mabel the electric candle. And with all their courage they started fighting back.

After that it all seemed like a dance. One by one, each figure was destroyed. They were either beheaded by me, melted by Dipper, or amputated by Mabel. It went by so quick; the hot feeling in my chest growing as we fought side by side. Before I knew it Dipper was sword fighting with Sherlock, and while I knew he’d be okay, I felt this need to chase after the two.

I looked at Mabel, as she threw body parts into the fire, she’d definitely be okay. So I chased after Dipper, running up the stairs, then out the window, and up the roof, over the Mystery Shack sign (which was now missing the S, how fitting) and to the other side of the roof. I knew, I knew, Dipper would be okay, but the fire burned in my chest, and for a moment I forgot. The moment I saw Sherlock raise his sword, the moment I heard him speak, I forgot everything.

“Any last words?”

Time slows down and something clicks inside my head. By some weird reflex I lift my hand up and scream at the top of my lungs. “NO!” It’s quick, and if I had blinked I would have missed it. All of a sudden the wax figure is devoured by a green fire. The fire melts him quicker than even the sun could have. I noticed only a second later that the burning in my chest was gone, and once Sherlock Holmes no longer existed I saw the look of shock in Dipper’s eyes. In the reflection of that gaze I saw another green flame. I felt confused, wondering where the other green flame was, but when I looked down I saw that my own hand was on fire. It took only a moment for me to realize I had been the one to set the cursed figure ablaze.

“Uhhh….Eden?”

I was surprised when I heard Dipper’s voice. The fact he didn’t sound afraid, but instead he sounded worried, was what truly surprised me.

 

Everything felt numb, my heart was dead silent, and my hands were warm. I had stopped breathing, that’s probably why Dipper was worried. It took my lungs burning, before I began to breathe again, I took deep uneven breathes. I hadn’t even realized that I was on my knees now, my legs having buckled beneath me.

“Eden!” Dipper ran up to me and put his hand on my shoulder. “Eden, how…..how did you do that?” I thought he would be afraid, but instead he was in awe. This kid was so weird.

“I….” I shook my head, and then looked back at my hand; the flame was long gone now. “I don’t know.” My voice trembled, and I felt like throwing up.

“I think….I think that was magic Eden. I think you can do magic!” Dipper tries to comfort me, trying to turn what just shook my world into something cool. With anyone else, I would have given them a piece of my mind, but when I looked into his eyes, I just smiled.

 _‘Damn kid, you must be some kind of lion tamer.’_ I thought, remembering something that had been told to me long ago. This made my smile grow wider, and a feeling of peace and calm overcame me.

Dipper and Mabel were okay, the cursed wax figures were gone, and that was a happy ending to me.

With no reluctant feeling in my heart, I put my arm around Dipper’s shoulders and brought him closer. “I think you’re right.” I say gently, smiling down at him. Sincerely, he smiles back. Just thinking about magic made his eyes sparkle, and seeing that made my heart warm. “But let’s just keep that fact a secret between me and you for a little bit. At least until I understand what I just did a bit better. Okay?”

Dipper nods in agreement. “Okay.”

After that we watch the sun rise together, in comfortable silence.

**-X-**

The peace didn’t last long. When we came back down to the parlor, Stan was there, demanding an explanation for the mess. I let the kids handle this, when they were done talking Stan smiled and was so happy to see his wax counterpart’s head. We even had a laugh together when the cops came by and made utter fools of themselves. But the second Stan was done laughing he yelled.

“Green-Hair! Clean up this mess!” He demanded, leaving the room as he scratched himself.

I felt anger boil inside of me, but let out a sigh when I knew I couldn’t stay angry. So, I went to cleaning up, and as I did another pair of hands joined me. Dipper started helping me, looking up at me with a smile, and when I turned around Mabel was helping out too, giving me a thumbs up. For the first time in a long time I felt genuinely happy.

**-X-**

The day was a long one, but finally I was able to bathe and get comfortable. Or at least I would have, if my roommate wasn’t a demon!

 ** _“Somebody had fun today!”_** Azura shouts cheerfully all of a sudden.

“Dear God, no! Shut up! I’m exhausted! I don’t have enough energy to deal with you right now!” I groaned back at her, flopping down onto the couch.

 ** _“I imagine that’s because you used up all your energy on destroying those cursed creatures.”_** I could literally hear the evil smile in her voice.

“Yes, for the love of all that is good, I destroyed the wax figures, big deal!” I bellowed, so not in the mood for her chit chat shit.

**_“How did it feel….using your power again?”_ **

The moment the words entered the air I froze. Of course she knew; she can sense magic! But even if that’s the case, that raises so many more questions than it answered. Sitting up, I glared at the demon in my reflection.

She grinned madly.

**_“Want to make a deal now?”_ **

“Not even a little.”

The demon snarled. **_“I’m the only one who can answer your questions!”_** She shouts, trying to convince me with all her might. But then, her expression changes, a fang showing in her smirk. **_“Unless…. you make a deal with another demon? But that would make me very jealous; after all you are my reflection now.”_**

“I think you got that backwards, you ass!” I argue, feeling enraged that she would even think I was the reflection of her. I came first! I was no one’s shadow! Not ever!

She completely ignored my anger, and continued as if nothing had been said. **_“Believe it or not, you’re the reason I’m awake. You awoke me from my dormant slumber, your …..powers called to me. You are the reason I’m here.”_** She said smugly, enjoying the sudden look of crushing realization on my face.

I….I was the reason she was awake? It’s my fault that she might possibly escape and kill the Pines? The questions went through my head, and I felt crushing guilt…..for all of two seconds.

“If you think I’m going to stew in guilt at the thought it’s all my fault you’re awake, then you’re nothing but a shit stain! As long as I never let you out, then it doesn’t matter you’re awake! What bull shit do you think you can pull over my eyes? You may think I’m stupid, but I’m not gullible!” I shouted, poking the mirror now as it was a person, eyeing those angry red orbs down with all my might.

The demon scratched at the glass and roared. **_“You’ll never learn the truth about your powers if you don’t make a deal with me, your arrogant peon!”_**

I narrowed my eyes at her. “Then I guess I’ll never know the truth. If you think it bothers me that much, then you’re wrong.”

And with that, she vanished, and I went to sleep, feeling triumphant.


	4. Rise to power, magical downfall.

_This chapter takes place in episode 4._

_____________________________________________________________________________________

**“Fallen Gravity”**

**Chapter 4:** _Rise to power, magical downfall._

A few days pass, and everything goes as usual. There’s lots of cleaning to be done, tourists come in, Stan shouts, Dipper goes looking for mysteries, and Mabel accidentally glues stuff to her sweaters. All and all, I’m really starting to get used to the rhythm of things around here.

Dipper keeps his promise about not saying anything about me possibly having magic powers, and I never bring it up either. I go looking through the file cabinets about magic, but nothing really answers my questions. I found some notes about magic incantations though. Only people that have magical potential can use spells, but I can’t find anything about people being able to use magic unaided. Maybe Azura was right, she might be the only person with answers; still not making a deal with her though.

The day was pretty much over; all the tourists were gone, when I headed into the kitchen. In the living room I can hear Soos, Mabel, and Dipper watching the show Tiger Fist; another awful show on a terrible channel. On days like this I was glad the Mystery Shack stayed busy, no internet and no good TV, this place was boring as all get out. You could go on a nature walk instead, but around here there’s a ninety percent chance you’ll get eaten by something supernatural. So as always, staying inside was safer.

In the kitchen I start working on supper. It was windy today, so I thought homemade soup sounded good. Usually, the refrigerator would stay empty around here, but since I started pick-pocketing customers and getting bribed to keep quiet about tax evasion, I decided to use that money to stock the kitchen. This pleased Stan, and I was able to make good healthy meals for the kids. Cooking awesome meals made me feel good, and made everyone else happy, so it was totally worth spending my only extra buck on good supplies.

I was chopping carrots when I heard Soos say: “Hey, look, it’s that commercial I was telling you guys about!”

Hearing this I felt a chill go up my spine. It was the Tent of Telepathy commercial, meaning Gideon would be showing up soon. The first thing that came to my mind was that I had to keep any possible powers I had hidden from that kid, otherwise things could get complicated. I hadn’t even tried to test out if I could use my powers again, and to be honest I didn’t want to. The idea of me having powers freaked me out on a number of levels. So, keeping them hidden from Gideon should be easy, right?

_I was screwed, wasn’t I?_

I didn’t even hear Stan come in I was so focused on my feeling of doom…..and trying to slice carrots without cutting off my fingers. So when I heard him shout I jumped a bit in my seat.

“Ever since that Gideon showed up, I’ve had nothing but trouble!”

I scoffed.

Queue flash back where I’m driving Stan to the super market. I come up on a good place to park but Gideon’s bus takes it first. Then Stan starts yelling at me to run him over, or some of his screaming fans over. Instead I ignore him and park on the other side of the lot. When I get out of the car I get hit by Stan’s cane for being too much of a pansy to run some screaming girls over.

“No one that lives under my roof is allowed under that Gideon’s roof!” Stan shouts loud enough for me to hear him in the kitchen, as I always can. I roll my eyes, he’s always so dramatic. Stan’s such a drama queen for an old man.

I can’t hear what Mabel and Dipper say next, but I know where it leads anyway.

“I am not going to the Tent of Telepathy!” I tell myself sternly.

**-X-**

I end up at the Tent of Telepathy anyway.

After supper, while I was cleaning up, Dipper whispered to me that him, Mabel, and Soos were going to the Tent of Telepathy. He asks if I wanna come. And there’s a _no_ right on the edge of my tongue, when Mabel swings in and starts hugging my arm really tight. “Please say you will!” She begs with puppy dog eyes. I sigh heavily and say: “I’ll go get my jacket.”

_Why, oh why have I become such a big useless softy?!_

 “Put your money in Gideon’s Psychic Sack!” I heard Gideon’s dad yell, Buddy; his name tag read. People willingly hand over cash and stuff it in the ordinary paper bag like its magic.

“Why are people here so stupid?” I whisper.

Following behind Soos and the twins, we end up seated on a bench on the right side of the tent. Organ music is playing, and there’s far too much light blue around here for my liking. I end up sitting next to Dipper on the edge of the bench, my arms crossed.

“Woah, this is like a bizarro version of the Mystery Shack.” Dipper says, looking around as Soos eats on a calzone which appeared from nowhere. “Look,” Dipper points to a handy man that walked by. “They even have their own Soos!” He states.

While Soos glares at Deuce, I chime in.

“Do they have their own me? Do they? No! That’s what I thought!” I say angrily, not even looking around to see if they did have their own me, because I knew they didn’t. There was only one of me damn it!

Dipper gave me a worried and confused look.

“It’s starting, it’s starting!” Mabel chants excitedly.

I just sit glumly, still wishing I wasn’t here. To be honest, I start to space out. For some reason I start looking at my hands. I still can’t get the feeling out of my head, the burning sensation that had been in my chest just before I released the fire from my palm that destroyed wax Sherlock. How could I have done that without any aid? No magical artifacts, no incantations, just pure utter emotion that had suddenly coursed through me and set my very soul ablaze.

Suddenly, everyone was standing up, except for me, and Dipper looked confused. “What, how did he?” Then the kid looked over at me and noticed I was still seated. “How?” I shrugged, showing him I had no answers.

However, I did cover my ears when I heard Gideon begin to sing. God, it reminded me of characters from live action Disney channel movies singing. I hated it! Swiftly, I grabbed my earbuds connected to my phone and started to let real music play in my ears instead.

When the singing was over, Dipper tapped my shoulder and we all got up to leave.

“Thank God that’s over!” I grumbled, following Dipper and Mabel closely.

“Man, that kid’s an even bigger fraud than Stan!” Dipper says with surprise.

“You got that right!” I add in.

“No wonder our Uncle’s jealous!” He finishes.

Mabel suddenly stops in front of us and puts her hands on her hips. “Oh, come on! His dance moves were adorable! And did you see his hair, it was like wooosh!” She exclaimed.

“You’re too easily impressed.” Dipper argues, with a smile on his face.

“Yeah! Yeah!” Mabel pokes at Dipper and the two bug each other and laugh all the way home. I smile as I watch them; maybe thinking tonight wasn’t all that bad.

**-X-**

The next day things seem pretty slow. We don’t get many tourists, so when Stan closes up shop for the day there’s not much to clean up. Soos heads home, Wendy having left a while ago, I end up sweeping off the porch. To tell the truth I was really just enjoying the breeze outside, and pushing around a broom lazily. But oddly, that’s when Gideon shows up.

The kid waddles up to the porch, dressed as sharp as can be. He doesn’t seem very dangerous right now, but I knew the truth. This kid was an evil spoiled brat, and with the second journal in his possession, he was very dangerous. Not only that, he was stupid enough to summon a demon! Thinking about it now, I wondered if I could stop him? Making sure Bill Cipher is never summoned again would make everyone a lot safer.

Leaning on my broom, I speak up, grabbing the kid’s attention. “What do you want, kid?” I ask, making my voice calm and neutral.

Gideon’s head perks up and he looks at me, hands behind his back. “I’m looking for a young girl named Mabel, is she home?” He asks, trying to be polite while keeping his voice innocent and cutesy.

I know exactly who he’s looking for and why he’s here, but oddly I felt like a gate keeper at that moment. Should I ask him a riddle? Tell him none shall pass? But no, I keep it simple. “Yeah, but tell me this Gideon, if you’re really psychic what am I thinking about right now?”

Nervously he replies. “Oh well, for my abilities to work I have to-” He’s about to use the line I’ve heard a hundred times before from the lips of con artists, I’ve had to deal with quite a few in my day, but he was the better of the ones I’ve met, I’ll admit.

“Heh,” I cut him off and chuckle just a little, not trying to be condescending, just enough to brush off his statement as if it wasn’t really important. “Don’t worry about it kid. I’ll tell you what I was thinking.” I say, suddenly feeling a toothy grin break out across my face. I lean over, just enough to where we’re face to face, eye to eye. Then I begin to whisper, venom dripping from my words. “Hurt anyone that lives under this roof, and I’ll make sure you burn.” It wasn’t a threat either, that was a promise.

While usually, I imagine Gideon doesn’t take threats lightly, this time I believe I caught him off guard. He looks confused, scared, and flabbergasted all at the same time. He tries to form words but all that comes out is air. I smile widely, that was oddly adorable.

With a wink and a one eighty personality shift, I put the broom up and say: “I’ll go get Mabel now.” As if a threat never left my lips. This confused Gideon even more, but he let me leave without ever saying another word.

I felt like I had just won a battle, but the war was only just beginning.

**-X-**

If I thought it would work I would warn Mabel about Gideon, but she’s a kid, and there’s been no proof yet that Gideon is evil. So, I know she won’t listen. Instead, I’ll be there for her when she needs me, let her enjoy the small friendship while she can. I know she’ll be okay, but I still feel extremely nervous about the whole thing.

It’s been a while since I’ve had trouble with my anxiety, but things around here have stressed me out and made me worry ten times more than I used to. So, after Mabel leaves with Gideon that day I decide to have some me time. I cover the mirror so Azura can’t bother me, listen to some rain from an app on my kindle, and read a book by the lamp light on the couch while snuggled up in some blankets.

Taking me time was definitely a good decision.

A few hours later I hear Mabel come back in. I take out my earbuds so I can hear everything she’s saying. Just in case my name is mentioned.

“Oh, leave him alone!” I hear her yell, after hearing this I sigh and put down my book. It takes a second but I get untangled from the covers and head for the stairs. “You never wanna do girly stuff with me! Even Edi doesn’t like doing girly stuff!” I’m relatively surprised when I hear my name; I had anticipated it yet not expected it at the same time.

When I lean my head into the living room, I reply. “Someone call for me?”

“Oh, hey Edi!” Mabel shouts cheerfully, and then jumps up and shows me her new fingernails. “Look! Look what me and Gideon did! Isn’t it neat!”

I smile and nod. “If you’re into that type of stuff. I’m not much for girly things…..” I tap my chin thoughtfully. “To be honest I’m not much of a girl. I’m not really much of a guy either…..” I pause. “I guess I’m not much of a gender at all.” I mumbled, feeling as if I just realized something really important.

“See!” Mabel shouts, pointing at me accusingly while looking at Dipper. “You and Soos get to do boy stuff all the time!”

“What ‘da you mean?” Dipper asks, not sure what she’s getting at.

That’s when Soos shows back up with a package of hot dogs. I had thought he went home for the day? Did he seriously just come all the way back to the Mystery Shack, with a package of hot dogs, just so he and Dipper could blow them up in the microwave? It sounds like something Soos would do.

As I hear the hot dogs in question explode in the microwave two things entered my mind. One; I’d have to clean that up. And two; that was a terrible waste of food! “Wasting food, how foolish.” I shake my head slowly, arms crossed, ashamed.

When I hear Mabel sigh I go down on one knee and gently hold her shoulder. “I’m sorry I can’t do girly stuff with you.” I apologize, knowing she’s feeling left out, and I know that feeling all too well.

She looks up at me with a kind smile. “It’s okay! I know you don’t like that stuff. But I have Gideon now, so we can do girly stuff together!” The look of happiness on her face after she says that last sentence nearly crushes my heart. At least I knew she’d have Candy and Grenda soon.

**-X-**

The next day after closing, Dipper brought out a little video game system that he had brought with him but forgotten. It was like an Atari, with stick controls and buttons. He attached it to the TV in the living room with my help. After that me, Dipper, and Mabel played for a while. Even though it was a simple console it was still nice to be playing video games again. The twins were comfortably sitting in the center of the recliner while I sat on the arm rest, waiting for my turn.

“It’s not a date date, ya know, I just didn’t want to hurt his feelings.” Mabel had brought up the topic of her date with Gideon gently. I could tell she just really wanted some advice. “So I figured I’d throw him a bone.”

“Mabel guys don’t work that way.” Dipper replied, trying to give her an honest answer. “He’s gonna fall in love with you.” He added slyly.

Mabel laughed.

Then I decide to chime in. “Yeah, men are like dogs, once they catch a whiff they never let go of the scent.” I explain nonchalantly, not feeling too into our conversation. Suddenly, there was an explosion in the game, and Dipper sighed. Mabel had beaten him again. “My turn!” I yell excitedly.

“So, Edi, how many boys have you dated?” Mabel asked curiously as Dipper handed me his controller. Well, it was a joystick, but you know what I mean.

“Ummm….” I thought about a child friendly answer to the question. To be honest, I’ve only ever been on two dates in my entire life. The rest was sex, drunken sex, and blurred lines between genders. Most, if not all of it I hadn’t really enjoyed and had only done because I needed money. It wasn’t until I was seventeen I found out I was Bi. I had wondered for a time if I was Ace, but I still found people sexually attractive, so that couldn’t be it. “Uh, let’s not talk about me.” I smiled brightly, trying to ward away Mabel’s questioning look.

When the doorbell rang, I thought: _‘Saved by the bell!’_ And then Mabel jumped up and handed her joystick to Dipper. Both of us, instead of continuing the game, leaned over as Mabel answered the door, we both saw a horse on the porch and gaped.

Seeing that, I bit my cheek and grumpily thought: _‘Guess who’s going to be cleaning up horse shit for the next two days?’_

**-X-**

I find myself with Wendy, Dipper, and Soos near the front of the Mystery Shack when Stan barges in asking questions about Mabel. Soos was reading a magazine, Wendy was on her phone, and I was sitting on the barrel with Dipper as he watched me play a game on my kindle. It was the Game of Thrones: Fire and Ice episode 1, mobile app version. I had forgotten it was downloaded on my kindle and that I didn’t need internet to run it.

While Dipper was watching me play he asked a lot of questions, being an avid Game of Thrones fan that I was, and since it didn’t exist in this dimension, I was more than happy to answer his every question.

“Hey.” Stan lightly said, none of us responded. Then very quickly he yelled again, but much louder this time. “HEY!” Now he had all of our attentions. “What the jekyll is Mabel doing in the paper next to that pickpocket Gideon?” He asked, pointing to their photo in the newspaper.

Wendy piped up, still texting on her phone. “Oh, yeah. It’s like a big deal; everybody’s talking about Gideon and Mabel’s big date tonight!” She explained, now holding up her phone so we could all see what was on her screen.

“WHAT?!” Stan screeched, once again acting like a complete drama queen. I just rolled my eyes and kept playing my game. “That little shyster is dating my great niece!”

 _‘Yesh, talk about a hypocrite.’_ I thought, Stan was after all just as bad, if not worse than Gideon. But I did agree that Mabel deserved way better.

When Soos started working out shipping names I completely tuned him out, instead I focused on Stan’s rage. Oddly, I felt some kind of emotional echo in my chest. There was fire, it burned inside my rib cage, but I ignored it.

“I didn’t know!” Dipper shouted, lying through his teeth as he tried to plead innocent. He was so close it was hurting my ears. “I didn’t hear about it! And plus I told her not too!” He added quickly.

Gently I elbowed his chest. “You just contradicted yourself, you know that right?” I ask with a smile. Dipper just shrugs.

“Yeah, well it ends tonight!” Stan announced, marching back through the shack, completely dressed now.

I blink at the man rapidly. _‘How the hell did he get dressed so fast?’_

“I’m going right down to that little skunk’s house!” Stan declares as he opens the door. “This is gonna stop right now!” After that he leaves, slamming the door behind himself in a fit of rage. Everybody flinches but me.

“That went well.” I said, breaking the nervous silence that followed Stan’s leave. “He’s not gonna be able to do anything…..but how the heck did he get dressed so fast?” I asked seriously, turning to my fellow employees. They all just shrugged. _‘Damn, maybe the old man is magic?’_

**-X-**

The next night I’m moving some stuff around in the parlor when I hear Mabel shamble back in. She heads to the living room where I hear her freaking out. As I pick up another box it almost feels as if I can feel her frustration. Soon after, I hear Dipper step in, trying to calm his sister down. I knew this was the moment where I needed to help Mabel too, because now even she knew she needed it. Quickly, I put down the box so that I can head to the living room, but Stan beats me there.

“Great news Mabel, you have to marry Gideon!” Stan declares, and the moment those words leave his mouth it feels like a bullet goes through my heart. For some reason I was feeling Mabel’s emotions of extreme dismay, but why? Well, now was not the time to question that. Swiftly, I slid in behind Stan. “Plus I got this shirt! Ugh, I am fat!”

“Yes, yes you are. And no, no Mabel does not have to marry Gideon!” I nearly scream, grabbing Stan’s shirt and narrowing my eyes at him. The old man actually looked surprised at me, but all I did was grit my teeth and growl.

“BLARGH!” Mabel yells, still panicking because of what Stan had said. Swiftly, she runs past me and up the stairs to her room.

With my hands still clutching Stan’s shirt, I turn my head back to him from where I had watched Mabel flee hysterically. With a hiss I ask: “What have I said about you being a terrible parental guardian?”

Stan blinks rapidly. “That I am one.”

 I roll my eyes. “Close enough.”

**-X-**

 

The next two days go accordingly. Well, for one thing after Mabel flees me and Dipper head upstairs to talk to her. It all ends with both me and Dipper agreeing to break up with Gideon for Mabel. This makes her so happy and we end up having a group hug….which was nice. That night I ignore Azura like the plague. The next day we go to a fancy restaurant called The Club, and me and Dipper tell Gideon that Mabel doesn’t want to see him anymore. Honestly, Dipper does all the talking; I just narrow my eyes at the white haired kid when necessary. And now me, Soos, Mabel, and Dipper are just hanging around outside after hours, and Mabel seems so happy.

When the phone rings I get up, but Dipper answers it before I can. I’m leaning against the doorframe as he talks to someone on the other end. I know who and I know why, so when he hangs up all I ask is: “Can I tag along?”

Dipper didn’t see why not.

Four one two Gopher Road led to Gideon’s factory, as I already knew. It was about a half hour walk from the shack, between here and there Dipper had explained the phone call in detail. When we both saw the hill over the horizon, the kid pointed out that something fishy was going on. The factory itself was pretty big, maybe the same size as the Mystery Shack. But why was it built on a cliff side? That just didn’t make any sense.

As Dipper opened the door to the warehouse I was ready to head in right beside him. But after he peeked in he looked back at me and held up his hand. “Wait here.” He asked, and even though I wasn’t happy to do it I did as he asked.

So, that left me, leaning against the warehouse doors, as I waited for some sign from Dipper that it was okay to come in. I should have known this whole thing was a bad idea to begin with. The closer we had gotten to the warehouse the more my chest began to burn. As I waited I looked at my hands again, ever since I came here it felt like something was different, that something was happening to me. The fact I didn’t know what though, was the problem. Azura knew, but I still wasn’t desperate enough to make a deal with a demon for answers.

Suddenly, I heard the double doors lock behind me, and a shiver went up my spine. Swiftly, I spun around on my feet and tried to open the door. _Why, why did I let him go in there alone?! Why damn it!_ The fire was growing inside of me, along with fear and trepidation, but I wasn’t sure if those were my emotions or Dipper’s. As the fire grew I began to bang on the door, I could hear things being moved around inside the warehouse, and as the feeling of fear grew stronger so did my feeling of rage. The fire suddenly burst forth, both my hands ablaze with green fire when I last hit the door. This sent the double doors inward, broken to bits with pieces on fire.

Inside the warehouse Gideon had Dipper floating in the air, using the gem on his bolo tie as an aid so he could use magic. The shears were now very close to Dipper’s neck, and feeling the full brunt of Dipper’s fear fueled the fire inside of me to the point I could no longer control it.

Both Gideon and Dipper’s heads had turned at the sound of the door being destroyed, and in the reflection of both their eyes I saw that both my hands and eyes were ablaze with a now golden flame. _When had it changed? And why?_ Those were questions I’d ask later, when I was calm and sane again.

With nothing but having to think of the actions, I had used the powers I had no understanding of and barely any control of to swap the kid’s places. Now Dipper was safely on the ground, the shears gone, turned to melted metal, and Gideon was floating in the air. All I had to do was clench my first and Gideon’s gem was destroyed.

As fire began to consume everything flammable around me, my emotions of fury getting out of control, I yelled: “What did I say!” At the top of my lungs.

Gideon was wide eyed, terrified, and shocked. “Who…what are you?!” He screeched.

 “Someone who can use real magic, without any stupid trinkets!” I answered, but felt as if I wasn’t the one who said those words. I had agreed to hide my powers after all, hadn’t I? Why was I doing this? The rage that I had felt when I saw Dipper about to be hurt, it had consumed me. “Now I ask again, what did I say when we first met?” I brought the child con artist closer, looking into the fear in his eyes as I saw mine burn with fire.

 “I…I-” He can’t even form words; I can practically hear his heart pounding, sweat building on his brow. Gideon can’t even think straight as I hold him like this.  

“I said you hurt any of the Pines and you burn!” I yelled, trying to make that crystal clear to him. Around us the warehouse was starting to catch fire.

Dipper was yelling, but for some reason I couldn’t hear him, I was too consumed. But finally, when Dipper started to pull at my arm, desperately trying to get my attention, I turned to him. “Eden stop! You’ve got to let him go! We’ve got to get out of here!” He yelled, scared; but not for himself, but for me and even Gideon. Hearing Dipper’s voice helps me come back, and suddenly I just let go of all the anger I had been holding onto so tightly. After I do that the fire dies in my chest, and I feel so weak.

I have just enough energy to grab both the young boys and run outside. The moment we’re all standing outside; the warehouse crumbles. Gideon’s watching his factory burn down in horror, and before I leave with Dipper I whisper one last message into the con artist’s ear. “You’ve been warned.”

With barely any energy left in my body, I follow Dipper all the way back home. Mabel meets us halfway, and asked what happened. Dipper looked up at me, asking if it was okay to tell the truth, when I nodded the boy told his twin sister the whole story, including the part where I saved him from wax Sherlock Holmes.

I beg Mabel to keep quiet about all of this, and with a big grin on her face she swears she won’t tell anyone. I sigh, hoping she won’t.

**-X-**

When I finally got back to my room I collapsed onto my couch; exhausted. I had figured that using my powers costed stamina just like any other physical action would, but using as much power as I did cost all most all of my energy. If Dipper hadn’t stopped me when he did I imagined I would have ended up killing myself, using that power until I had no energy left in my body. So many questions had been raised tonight, when I hadn’t even answered the questions I already had. I lost control almost completely; it had felt like I was someone else when I spoke. _But why? And how come what originally was a green flame had turned into a golden one?_

So many questions and no answers: _‘God, I just want to sleep for a hundred years.’_

 ** _“My oh my, but you’ve used up a lot of power haven’t you? It almost felt like another demon was out there, intent to kill!”_** Hearing Azura made my heart jump, and I clenched my teeth. I was not in the mood to play her games. **_“Still not desperate enough for answers to make a deal with me, I see. Well, I’m sure that will change soon enough.”_**

Instead of responding to her, I grabbed my pillow and covered my head so I couldn’t hear her. I was never going to unseal her, never! She was Fallen, and Fallen could never be trusted!

**-X-**

_**End note:** Originally I was going to re-write this, I felt Eden became too powerful too quickly. But it's been months, my youtube channel and life keep me super busy. Plus I started working on an original piece called Knight of July, if you guys could check that out I'd appreciate it! So anyway, sorry this took so long! I might try and get back into this soon! _


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